Getting Started

Creating a healthy workplace culture with strong leadership and an effective communication strategy.

The first section of the Gloucestershire Healthy Workplace Award ‘Our Organisation’ looks at leadership of your organisation and the workplace culture. Think about your company approach to staff health and wellbeing and how this is communicated across your organisation.

The award also explores workplace ‘Communication’ and the’ Recruitment and Retention’ of the workforce.

Things to consider:

  • Work with your senior leadership team to evaluate your workplace culture, look at how your managers communicate – is it consistent?
  • What do you already know about staff health and wellbeing? How is staff morale in general and how do people perceive the organisation’s leadership? And what does your staff data on recruitment, retention and sickness absence tell you to start with?
  • Leading by example: How does your leadership team cultivate a culture of shared values, beliefs and behaviours across the organisation? You will need to show examples of how you communicate and the key messages that come from your senior leaders and managers.
  • Information that you provide to your workforce should clearly state why you are launching / updating your Health and Wellbeing Strategy and be clear on ways your workforce can get involved, and how it will affect everyone in the organisation.

Conducting a workplace Health Needs Assessment

An example of good practice and a good way to bring your workforce with you on this journey is to do a health needs assessment with your employees. It can be done anonymously through a simple mechanism like Survey Monkey. Some organisations will undertake health assessments as part of staff induction and use the information to put appropriate levels of support in place for individuals.
Health needs assessments and associated support should be reviewed on an ongoing basis and findings used to inform the companies health and wellbeing strategy.

Public Health England provide a free Health Needs Assessment and employer toolkit with 23 questions that companies can use and adapt to their business needs. You can access this resource here 

 

Recruiting high quality employees and providing the conditions for them to thrive and develop are essential for your organisation’s growth and success.

Working towards and achieving the Healthy Workplaces Gloucestershire Award demonstrates your commitment to your employees, their personal development and positive health and wellbeing. This in turn helps attract new employees, retain them and get the best out of all your employees.

Promoting healthy lifestyle behaviours, having policies and procedures in place to support safety at work, encourage personal development and create a culture of happiness, trust and transparency all help reduce sickness absence, increase loyalty, motivation, performance and productivity.

Browse through our sections for information and suggestions to support your employees’ physical and mental health and wellbeing.

Good employers recognise the importance of regular and effective two-way communication at work. Strong communication keeps employees informed, builds trust, boosts morale, job satisfaction and productivity.

Managers who communicate well, whether they’re delegating tasks, managing conflict, supporting or motivating their teams will get the best out of their teams. Giving your employees a voice is equally important. This encourages innovation and collaboration, improves performance, motivates and helps achieve your strategic objectives.

Managers who build trust and relationships help increase confidence and may also encourage employees to speak up about issues affecting their physical and mental health and wellbeing.